www.iva.co.uk

how can i save money?

What I have done is save the money that I don't use out of my allowence. Not a lot but after some time it mounts up. Hoping to use it on a holiday later this year.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Are you in an IVA or a DMP? If so, as wannabedj says, you can save money from your allowances. Try changing to cheaper brands when you go shopping. That usually frees up a few pennies.

we just spent what we needed and found online shopping a way to save money, not tempted when walking round. And as others have said changing brands and putting aside odd bits of change it really adds up. Just by doing that I managed to 'save' £150 for Christmas.

Good luck with your savings

Jan

I put all my coppers into a tin that you have to open with a tin opener to access, I also try and save money on food stuffs by shopping around and I know it means sometimes I'm all over town on foot but it does mean I can save a few £'s then I'll do it. It does soon mount up as others have said.

I save 5p, 2p and 1p coins in money bags and they are kept out of sight. Every so often I cash them in.

Must admit that I don't do online shopping as I reckon some of the savings I made would go on the delivery charges.

We make a list and pretty much stick to it. If they're doing promotions on stuff I normally buy but don't necessarily need that week, I will buy it and put it away.

Since decideing to go for our IVA in Dec 2009 i've done our weekly shop on http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/
but always write a list and stick to it. Excellent website, cause it tells you if another brand is cheaper too!!! Martin lewis reccomends it too.

With it being our first few months in IVA were saving like mad,managed to save £500 since end of march till now. But me and hubby are really good at doing without,buying supermarket own brands for everything. I've even started drinking there own brand wine, but still does the same job!!!! LOL Out incentive is hopefully affording a week away this time next year abroad........which i think helps if your saving for a reason as well as for emergencys!!!!

I have an added incentive for sticking to Asda - daughter works there part time so I get 10% discount.

It's amazing the difference it makes to the bill!

Hi all. We will soon be coming up to our first year review and as mentioned on this board we have managed to make savings by 'shopping around' and getting cheaper fuels, petrol, food etc.etc (we have been a lot more frugal than pre-IVA!!) but am concerned that when doing an up to date income and expenditure that the latter may/will have gone down. Will the IP then say that if we can save a few hundred pounds then an increased payment could be made to creditors????

We get 10% off at Morrison's, good job too today as it came to £64.something and I only had £60 in my purse, I obviously wasn't paying enough attention on that shop! Could have been embarrassing!

Try shopping every fortnight rather than weekly. We did this in my own household and saved a considerable amount of money - I think due to the fact that you have to be more thoughtful about what you buy and you actually plan menus in advance (at least my husband does - would not know where to start when it comes to the kitchen!)

I go twice a week, I can keep track easier that way and I spend less. Shopping I think is all down to personal preference and time constraints and circumstances ie how many you are buying for and whether you use a freezer etc.

As long as you plan your meals, you should save money and it becomes a fine art after a while!

What a good idea mel, never thought of doing fortnightly and just buying fresh stuff when needed!!!!! Will try that next shop.....plus just got £5 voucher off at tesco if we spend over £50!!!

We go once a week for the big shop and do a top up when needs be - usually just for bread. Hubbie does the local butchers once a week for the meat.

We always make sure the cupboards and freezer are topped up and when hubby does something like chilli or curry, he always does a big batch and then freezes loads of portions.

By just replacing what we have used we do find that it isn't too expensive, plus if we do run short of money we know we have food in the house.

I tried shopping fortnightly but ended up spending more as I still had to go to the supermarket for milk and bread etc. Now we do one big shop at the start of the month and then I go once a week to top up.

It's quite handy as my SW group is next to Tesco so I can combine the two!